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This week, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a study on the California high-speed rail project’s viability, ridership and cost projections.

McCarthy is requesting the study include an assessment of:
• the accuracy or ridership projections provided by the California High-Speed Rail Authority;
• the amount of federal or state funding that will be needed to complete construction;
• the amount of federal or state funding that will be needed annually for operations, maintenance and debt amortization;
• adverse economic impacts that could result from the eminent domain of private property for the project.

In addition, the study should include comparisons of the total project cost and relative ticket prices for the project to be self-sustaining; the cost of the high-speed rail project versus other modes of transportation; and the project’s costs and viability to other proposed high-speed rail projects in the United States.

The letter to the GAO was signed by 11 other members of Congress, including House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Penn.).